Woman laces abusive hubby's food with poison

A Mutoko woman allegedly gave her husband food laced with poison in a bid to fix him for allegedly sexually abusing her resulting in his death.

Esther Mapisa (20), who was yesterday formally charged with murder before High Court judge Justice Joseph Musakwa, allegedly committed the crime just a week into her marriage with George Nyambe.

Mapisa, who hails from Chokufuma village under chief Mukota, pleaded not guilty to the charge claiming that she had no intention to kill Nyambe but wanted to only "fix" him for sexually abusing her.

According to the indictment, Mapisa administered termite killer into her husband's food and all the chickens and cats at the homestead also died shortly after consuming the left-overs which the woman had thrown away to conceal evidence.

In her defence, Mapisa claimed that her intention was to inflict pain on Nyambe for being intimate with her against her will.

"I did not want him to die. All I wanted was for him to feel the pain because I did not want him to continue sexually abusing me," Mapisa said. The Court also heard that Nyambe's younger sister was lucky to be alive after she attempted to eat the food that her brother had left in his plate.

Mapisa reacted swiftly and threw the plate to the ground to avoid the little girl from eating the poisoned food.

Said Mapisa, "I did not want the child to eat the food, since my main target was George."The trial continues today.

After eating the food, Nyambe vomited uncontrollably and was rushed to Kotwa District Hospital where he died on admission.

Mr Editor Mavuto from the Attorney General's Office alleged that the couple got married in April 2011 but Mapisa claimed in court that the union was against her will.

It is alleged that some few days later, Mapisa visited her family's home, where she brought some termite killer.

She administered the toxic substance into Nyambe's food, it is alleged.A post mortem report showed that Nyambe died as a result of consuming poisonous food.The trial continues today.